Edward and I found Alley sitting under a tree, her eyes emotionless while staring at the grass. Her arm rested on top of her knees and her head rested on her arm. She looked absolutely miserable and yet still so beautiful.
She looked up at us her cheeks were stained from tears. And said, in a pleading voice, four words I'll never forget.
"Please, don't kill me." Her voice was weak and strained like she had been yelling for hours.
I knew instantly that her words weren't meant for me, but for Edward (her eyes locked on Edward made that clear). I really wasn't sure what worried me the most, that she knew what Edward was or that she was afraid he was going to kill her.
I also didn't understand how she knew what Edward was. I mean sure he was absolutely nonhuman, god-like, gorgeous, a whole lot paler then any normal human, and his eyes were coal black. But did she really know what he was by all that; it didn't seem possible if you were normal, which I was starting to think she wasn't.
"You…you know what…he is?" I asked unsure of how to put it and worrying if there was somebody else around eavesdropping. But if there was somebody eavesdropping Edward would have known and would have stopped me from talking.
"Yeah I know what he is," Alley said her eyes unwilling to leave the sight of Edward for a second not even for blinking. She looked truly terrified and angry. "A vampire." Her voice was full of sorrow, worry, and anger.
Alley was definitely not normal.
"How did you know?" Edward asked as a command more then a question.
"I've been around enough to tell the difference." She finally took her eyes off Edward and looked at me. "You're not afraid of him." She said it as an observation not a question.
Edward's grip on my hand tightened, but his face was emotionless and his eyes were still locked on Alley. "Of course not. Why should I be?"
I felt Edward drop my hand and I looked at him confused. But his eyes were still on Alley, but I could still see a bit of grief in them.
"He could break your neck in one second. One second is all that it would take for him to end your life," Alley said as Edward looked down at the grass while the grief was ever clearer in his expression.
This was not the time to be talking like this. Not if I wanted Edward to keep his promise and not back out, more then once today. Not when he finally gave in to what I wanted…to what I needed.
"What's your point?" Edward looked up at me and Alley titled her head and smiled. She was one confusing person.
"Bella…" Edward started, but I shook my head.
"I know you can kill me easily, but I don't care. It doesn't matter to me. All that matters is that I'm with you." I slipped my hand back into his. His face still had grief and worry, but he didn't say anything more. I turned back to Alley who had an amused expression on her face. "What do you mean by war? You kept saying that, why?"
"Is there any other reason to say war then when there is a war?" I looked at her speechless while Edward looked at her with disbelief in his eyes. "I guess it hasn't taken effect here."
"Does this is having something to do with…Victoria?" I asked trying to make sense of the situation.
She shook her head no. "No this has to do with…," she paused and looked like she was about to start crying again. She fought back the tears and said, "Samuel."
"Samuel? Who is Samuel?" I looked at Edward and he shrugged not knowing who Samuel was either.
"The guy, the vampire who…may not have started the war but he sure helped it take off." Alley looked down at her watch, swore under her breath, looked up back at us, and said, "I have to go. I really have to go."
"Go? Go where?" I asked as she stood up.
How could she just leave when she was crying a waterfall minutes ago? And how could we let her go with knowing so little of this so called 'war' that was happening?
"I'm going to be late. It's really important that I get there fast." She started to walk past us, but Edward quickly blocked her. She sighed and said, "Do you want to come with me? Lucy could probably explain more about this then I could. That is if she hasn't gotten killed yet. And we probably could use your help…heck any help would be great to have."
